Monday, April 24, 2017

Week 60: Glittery Smiles

And I’m slip and sliiiiding down the wall…. or down the hill. So technically its ‘dry season’ (here in the Philippines there are three seasons: rainy (typhoons and tropical storms and just rain every day), the dry season (March-June no rain no wind just hot hot hot and freak it's hot) and the who knows season (jan -feb it's not rainy but it's cold somehow. Very windy) technically right now we are in the Dry season but it’s gotten into this weird groove where it rains at night. That sounds great right? Well no for a few reasons.

1) tricees can NOT drive up hill when it's rainy, they will slide right back down the hill… backwards

2) that water just turns into humidity so you are Dying all day even in the shade

3) all the little buggies want to take shelter in your house… killing 53 cockroaches in one-day sort of thing and

4) I am not good at walking up hills of a 45 degree angle when its wet and slippery.

So for the 1st one. We were lucky to catch a tricy even though it was dark and starting to rain and the tricy that gave us a ride was not a very strong engine so the driver gunned the engine and zoomed up the hill but only made it about halfway when he started sliding back. My knuckles were white but I didn’t scream. Then the tricee driver was just like “well that didn’t work” and just expertly maneuvered the tricee and we slid back down the hill no problem. I was scared and for a second I thought I was gonna die but now it's just a fun story to tell people. “Yup, I almost died on my mission but it was worth it!” I guess that is the closest I’ll get to a rollercoaster ride on my mission.

Then for number 3. I am not exaggerating. After I killed them all, I counted and I'm regretting watching Supernatural before my mission because now there are scratching sounds in the ceiling that I know are not demons but are just cockroaches but it's still not fun. It’s the same with the sink. Skittering and scratching sounds. *shudder* we are still trying to fix the problem but honestly idk why they like invading my house… it's so clean. This is one of the cleanest apartments I've lived in on my mission but there are a million cockroaches. We have sprayed bug killer on all the screens and door frames and left poison where we see them often. So we will just have to see. (we are also talking to the landlord about it and he is implementing some repairs to the house to try and get rid of them all.)

And number four… I’ll just let your imagination have fun with that. Just imagine me stepping very carefully over a puddle but not quite getting it.

Actually this week has been a lot of realizations. I thought I was doing good in the ‘be nice to people’ department but after a few calls I realized I’m not quite up to where I thought I was. I still need to watch the ‘how.’ As my mother would say:

Mom: ‘you sound mad.”

Me: I’m not mad

Mom: then change how you said that.

Me: that is not a good idea.*with a smile in my voice* There how was that?

Mom: you still look mad. Try smiling.

Me: I am smiling

Mom: on the inside maybe. Try letting your face know you are happy

Me: That is not a good idea *cue butterfly eyes and sparkles in the air as I smile glamorously, birdies twitter in the air and it's like a scene out of a Disney movie*

Mom: much better.

And as usual my mother is right. This is my face, and it’s a happy face, but it doesn’t always show it. It’s ok I’m still working on it. I studied more about Charity and Love and had a great realization on the importance of showing how much you care. (and I can already hear my mother saying “That’s what I said!”) But the more you love truth the more it will stand out to you I guess! But the best part is how the whole situation was handled. A missionary felt like I was attacking them (their words not mine) and instead of gossiping and hating me they confronted me about it, and informed their leaders by following the chain of command. The whole thing was handled with astonishing maturity and was very easily solved. I am very lucky to have these sort of people in my zone. And now I know to speak softly and with sparkles… And if I can find any more Disney birds I’ll throw those in too.

Also Vanessa Dela Cruz passed her baptismal interview! She and Mark Adrian will be baptized this Saturday April 29! That will be my 17th and 18th baptism! (which was actually my goal for my mission- to get 18.) so now I hope to get 20!! We hope Vanessa will be baptized by her older brother who was baptized last July (the area’s most recent convert) but it will all depend on how it turns out. I personally don’t believe in coincidences. Is it coincidence that she was one of the first people we met here in Vigan, or that her mom mentioned that she was not a member but wanted to be baptized? Or that she lives just across the street from us? No; it’s by design. Everything has a purpose and a meaning why… you just got to open your heart and mind and close your eyes. (be careful to not trip) but the thing is- to quote a musical “the heart understands, the heart is too wise. So look with your heart and close your eyes tight…”

Anyways. I lost my planner this week. Or I thought I did. I was scrambling around the house and dumping out my bag and panicking (when you forget your planner at home for a few hours you feel like you’ve lost your arm because I have a fantastic memory for non-missionary related things like the difference between crocodiles and alligators but can’t remember names of investigators… hey the rhymed.) so I was texting those we had seen earlier that day and then just gave up. Two days later I found it inside my bag inside a little hidden zipper. That I placed it in. So today my companion had us do some deep cleaning and I found my missing wallet and t-shirt and now my companion has put me on a bag-ban. I have to put things right away after using it and I can't put it anywhere else but where it belongs. I like to think I’m a tidy person but my companion does not quite agree with me.

I have also started reading the Doctrine & Covenants backwards. I should read section 1 on the plane ride home… so according to that I have 136 days left on my mission.